Bruce DuMont, founder of The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, will be the featured speaker at the next Broadcaster’s Club of Florida luncheon held at the SaraBay Golf and Country Club in Sarasota on Friday February 15 beginning at noon.
As host of Beyond the Beltway, Bruce DuMont is heard from coast to coast every Sunday night on more than 60 of America’s major radio stations, including WLS-AM/Chicago. The program began as “Inside Politics” on WBEZ-FM/Chicago in 1980 and offers a fresh, spirited and balanced analysis of national affairs. The television version of the program airs every Sunday at 10:30 PM on WYCC-TV/Channel 20 in Chicago.
He is the nephew of Allen B. DuMont, the founder of the DuMont Television Network (America’s first commercial television network) and one of the co-inventors of the cathode ray tube.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only two broadcast museums in the United States. The Museum includes America’s only Radio Hall of Fame, which DuMont brought to Chicago in 1991.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications, located in Chicago, is the result of a dream and a lot of work by Bruce DuMont. The Museum’s stated mission is “to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online access to our resources.”
Bruce DuMont began his talk radio career as the original producer of WGN/Chicago’s “Extension 720” in 1968. After an unsuccessful run for the state legislature, he returned to WGN in 1970 as producer of “The Howard Miller Show”, one of Chicago’s most controversial radio programs.
In February 1973, DuMont left WGN to begin his own on-air radio career at WLTD/Evanston, Illinois. Working on the 1,000-watt suburban station, DuMont was able to establish a national reputation, due to his investigative interviews and reporting on Watergate, as well as constitutional abuses by the FBI and CIA during the 1970s. His investigative journalistic efforts resulted in a September 1974, appearance on “The Tom Snyder Show” on the NBC Television Network.
In December 1982, DuMont joined WTTW Television, where he negotiated and produced the historic 1983 Chicago mayoral debates, which led to the election of Harold Washington. While at WTTW, DuMont received two local Chicago Emmy Awards.
DuMont was the original producer of “Chicago Tonight with John Callaway” which premiered in April of 1984. In July of that year, DuMont began his on-camera career, when he anchored the national Democratic and Republican Conventions for the highly acclaimed public affairs discussion program. From 1984 through 1991, DuMont was the Senior Political Analyst for WTTW/Channel 11.
In 1991, DuMont left WTTW to become President and CEO of The Museum of Broadcast Communications.
In 2008, DuMont received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Chicago Journalists Association.
The luncheon cost is $20 per person. You do not need to be a member of the Florida Broadcaster’s Club to attend. Dress is “Comfortable”.
For more information and to make a reservation, click here.
